Pages

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

A Bit of Non-Fiction

After reading so much Harry Potter I think I was starting to believe that it was non-fiction. Honestly, I think I would love if it were real; it's probably why I went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for my vacation. I wish it were real. I would love to play Quiditch, go to Hogwarts, and do magic. However, one always needs to be sure that they stay within reality.

Therefore, I decided it was time for a non-fiction book. I am a 98% of the time fiction reader. However, every now and again I find, or my husband convinces me to read, a non-fiction book. Recently I was talking with a counselor at my school and she was reading Columbine by Dave Cullen. We were talking about the book because I worked in Jeffco school district, been to the school, know several people that were there, and it was a very big deal growing up in Colorado. This discussion caused me to check-out this book from the library.

If you haven't read a non-fiction book in awhile, I suggest you give it a shot. It is fun to read something true about a topic that interests you. If you remember Columbine, then try this book. It answers some misconceptions that media caused. It was also laid out in a way that was interesting and unpredictable. Cullen goes back and forth across time and across all of the different people including the fellow students, parents, the surrounding community, police, and the shooters. He writes the story in various parts at times discussing before the shooting, then events after the shooting, and of course the events during the shooting. I actually think the way Cullen laid the story out would be very difficult to write. However, the different layout kept you interested throughout.

All in all I learned a lot of new aspects to the Columbine shooting. I appreciated the clarification on the media's misconceptions. For years, people believed, and only knew, what the media told them about the shooting. Learning a bit more about it, answered many of the questions I had had for years.

Non-fiction books are great. You feel a bit smarter after reading it, and it is good to go out of your genre comfort zone every now and again. I think Lincoln: A Photobiography,The Devil's Highway, and Columbine are some of my favorite non-fiction books.